The Cat Thief
by Arcadia Ryter
Summary: Hornet, now known as Cat, a play on her real name, is now seventeen, and runs with a new gang of thieves until Scipio finds out a deadly secret about her new friends. HornetXScipio
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own (deep breath) Scipio, Hornet, Riccio, Mosca, Prosper, Boniface, Dotter Masimo, Venice, the basilica, the Doge's Palace (I think it's in Venice...), Italy, or it's government or orphans running around the streets. (gasps) But, I do own my people. If you steal them, you will face my wrath.

Chapter One

On with the story

"Do you have it?" Annette asked.

Cat flung her long thin braid behind her shoulder as she stared at the list. "_Si_, we have what we need." She patted the messenger bag hanging off her shoulder.

"Then let's get the hell outta here!" Annette whispered.

They dodged out of the store's door, and walked as fast as what looked normal, without being running.

After they were three blocks away, Annette giggled, then whooped loudly enough for many passerby to turn their heads and stare.

Cat blushed and pulled Annette into an alleyway.

"Why do you do that after everytime we steal?" Cat asked, walking past her to the next street over.

"It's my thing, the one I do after I complete a job." She said proudly, following Cat.

"Nobody is supposed to know that you were doing a job in the first place!"

"Come on," Annette looked to Cat as they walked down the empty street to the Star Palace, "Don't tell me that you don't have a thing that you do after a job. Everyone does!" Annette blew a long blonde wisp of hair out of her eyes. "Gio smokes, I woot, Jaser scratches her head--" Cat's barking laugh broke her off. She resumed, "Yeah, didn't you see that? Everytime, it's like she got fleas from the place or something."

Cat shook her head. No, she didn't have a thing, because a thing is what happens after you steal and _enjoy it_. That was the single big difference between her and the others.

Annette obviously loved it. It was the kind of job she had been setting herself up for back in England. One day, the Cloud family went on the first real vacation they've had in years. To Venice, the magical city with lots of water and stuff. Annette liked it so much here, she snuck off the return plane. By the time the rest of the family realized she wasn't in the loo, it was too late to turn the plane around. And since they couldn't afford to return, they didn't.

The Star Palace was more run down looking these days than it had way back. They still went in the old entrance, though. The one at the side that said, "No Admittance" in Italian. Cat found it easier to just walk in, than to pull the bell and wait for Prosper, Riccio, or Mosca to open the door. And yet, she missed the careful obsession of Scipio. Not for the first time, she wondered if she should have stayed in touch with everyone. Riccio, the hedgehog-headed one; Mosca, the rough-and-ready one; Prosper, the thoughtful one; Boniface, the adorable one; and, last, but not least, Scipio, the one that made it all happen.

Alas, she thought as they walked in the Palace, she didn't know where Riccio and Mosca were, Prosper and Boniface moved with Signora Spavento when she moved out of Venice, and Scipio... well, he's too old to hang out with them anymore.

"Honeys, we are home-ys!" Annette greeted the group.

"Took you fucking long enough." Gio hollered from the stage. Gio was the leader of the outfit, not necessarily the brains. He looked to be a slightly fat mixture of Riccio and Mosca, but with a completely different face. More mob boss than husky husband. His hair was dark brown and it stuck out at the sides and on top. "I was just about to send Verdelet to get you." Verdelet was a giant white and black mastiff that was living here when Gio moved in. He tails Gio and seems to understand human speak. A little too much to feel safe around. Cat didn't like the damned dog at all. It reminded her far too much of the Segreta Isle.

Jaser walked up to them from the bedding area where she was darning some pants.

"You got it?" She was Arabic, darkened skin and very short black hair, and her Italian was almost painful to listen to. She was also the newest one to live here, only here a couple of months. Prosper had taken up the language so much faster than her.

"Yeah, we got it." Cat said, wearily. Maybe she was getting too old for this...

"Then we got everything we need to break in." Gio said, almost happy. "Now, the entrance will be..." Ah, another of Giovanni's torrents. Cat flopped down onto her bed and prepared herself for a long day.

:Scipio paced around the table in the lounge. Well, not really a lounge. Some people actually work in this room.

Cindy typed desperately into the computer.

Scipio stopped pacing and began tapping his foot impatiently, and with great emphasis on waiting. She didn't even look up. She has been used to this treatment by fieldies for far too long to bother too much.

"Your next job is at the Doge's Palace," She said calmly.

"What am I doing there?" Scipio asked, grumpily.

"IR. Get on to the briefing room, man." She glared at him, with a look that said, Get out of my sight.

"'kay, bye." And he walked on to the next room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Unexpected Meeting

"Come _on_, Cat!" Gio stage whispered from behind the bushes. "The fucking guard is going to come back around soon. Come _ON_!" Cat was hesitating again. She seriously doubted that they could break into an effing Palace without being caught. Stealing wallets and purses from the tourists was one thing; breaking and entering was a whole different story all together, and her heart had never been fully into it from the start of planning a week ago.

She said a silent good bye to the bushes she had hid behind and sprinted over the grounds to where the others were in.

"What took you so long?" Annette said, smiling nervously.

"Alright, so from here, we can go to..." Gio said, taking out the floor plan to the Palace. Cat duly listened to everything he said, lost in her memories of what happened the last time she had tried to break into a house. She felt as if something magical was in the air today, like everything they do was a dream, or maybe...

:Scipio slammed his fist down on the table, hard enough to make a resounding thud in the metal.

"What do you _mean_ 'You're going in with minimal equipment?'" He shouted angrily at the calm figure, slowly sipping hot coffee, a large monitor throwing everything into harsh lighting. "I'll need at least a few more things than..." He sputtered to a stop, looking down with disgust at the few items on the table. _A lock pick, suction gloves and shoe coverings, hydrogen balloon that provides temporary floating, it's not _nearly _enough_ _to breal into a Palace! What's the boss thinking?_

"The boss wants to test you, I believe." The young woman said, turning to look at the monitor and the continually incoming information from other agents. Satisfied, she swiveled back around in her chair to examine Scipio over her wire-rimmed glasses. "You once said you were known as the Thief Lord back in your day. I believe he wants to see how much you can actually do, by yourself."

"That's stupid," Scipio said bluntly, "He doesn't need talent when he's got equipment."

"Well, whatever. No one will say anything against him but you, and he trumps your position everytime. As soon as you complete this mission, without being caught, I think the higher-ups will promote you from field agent. Then," she smiled at this point, "You'll be able to match the boss's positon. Hey," she said, turning around because the computer beeped, "it's time for you to go. So long, _Fortunato. _Don't forget to take your gear." She said, almost as an afterthought, beginning to type something hurriedly into the computer.

Scipio sighed. This was going to be a long night.

Author Notes: Gomennasai, it's so short, but this computer has been having a hard time with loading fics for some reason. I will update shortly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Unexpected Meeting: Part 2

"Alright, you all know where the hell you're going?" Gio didn't wait for an answer, and jogged off into the darkness. They had used rope to get over the spiked fence, and the lock pick wasn't even needed, as one of the guards had propped a door open for air. The guards were definitely _not_ used to midnight break-ins.

"See ya." Annette said quietly as she took off after Gio. There was a split in the hallway, and they would each take one part and search for goods.

Cat and Jaser stared at the other for a moment, each thinking, what am I doing here, then sped down the corridor in search of fabled treasure.

:Scipio propped his night-vision goggles over his eyes, and slipped on a pair of black cotton gloves.

"How much longer is it until we get there?" He shouted over the helicopter's blades at the pilot. The pilot didn't even bother looking at him; he just held up three fingers. Three minutes until they were over the Doge's Palace.

Scipio sighed and settled back into the plastic seat, readjusting his goggles. They were part of his own equipment, so he could use them. There were some things that he would never dream of working without, and that is what he had bought over the years with the hefty paycheck he received.

"Thirty seconds!" The pilot shouted back at him, "And good luck!"

_Yeah, thanks a lot_, Scipio thought sarcastically. He hopped out of the chopper and deployed his parachute. He hoped he wouldn't hit anything hard on the way down.

:Cat and Jaser continued down the hallway together until the hall split, as it did where Annette and Gio were. They had seen plenty of beautiful works of art along the way, but none small enough to fit into their sacks or carry.

"Careful." Jaser said in halting Italian as they split, "Feel someone is near." With that said, she sprinted away into the darkness. The flashlights everyone brought were useless, as anyone could see the beam, and would most likely get them caught, but Cat desperately wanted some sort of light, because the darkness was very oppressive and she walked through the hallway. Not even emergency lights.

She got her wish when she saw a small red laser shining in through the large window.

:Grumpily, Scipio took off the parachute and took the red laser light out of the hollow sole of his sneaker and flipped it on. Before that, he already knew he hit a tree, judging by the leaves crackling loudly. _A bad beginning to a very bad night_, he thought as he brushed a leaf out of his hair. With the help of his laser pointer, he located a window, and saw that falling into a tree was actually a blessing in disguise; he would've never gotten this close to a window without climbing a tree.

He scrambled stealthily to the window and pondered a moment. How on earth was he supposed to get it unlocked from the outside without setting off any alarms? Then he remembered from briefing that Research had found that the Doge's Palace was so old, it didn't have any modern alarms installed and instead had twelve hour sentries stationed around the place at all times.

Praying no one would hear, he put his foot through the window.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Agent Double-O Scipio

Cat screamed into her sweater, shattered glass falling around her. She backed away against the wall as the glass stopped falling, and then bit her sleeve to stop from screaming again. A dark figure with a red light fell gracefully to the floor, landing on all fours. It had bug eyes that gleamed even with a lack of light.

"I heard something over here!" Cat heard a man shout in the distance. The figure looked toward the man's voice and then stood up._ It's a giant!_ Cat thought, half-crazy with fear.

As if hearing her thoughts, the figure looked at her. She realized the reflecting bug eyes were actually goggles.

"Hornet?" A man's voice asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Cat asked incredulously. She was shocked to have a blast from the past from being called her old nickname. _How on earth could this old codger know my name?_ Cat thought wildly. Only the old gang knew about that, them and Ida Spavento and Victor Getz. Could this be Victor?

"Victor?" She asked timidly.

"WHAT?" the man whisper-shouted, "I am not-"

He was cut off by the shout of another man down the hallway.

"We had better go."he said, suddenly gruff in manner. "Come on." He held his hand out to help Cat up, for she had fallen down, but Cat didn't take it. If not Victor Getz, who could he be?

Then she remembered the magical merry-go-round and couldn't believe it.

"Scipio?" She asked tentively.

"Nice to know you remember me. Come on, we can talk later," He grinned with a boyish flair, and ran his hand through his dark hair like he did in the old days, "That is, if we don't get busted first."

Cat took his hand.

:Scipio pulled her to her feet, but she slumped against him.

"Whoa." Hornet said, "My legs aren't working."

Scipio pulled her straight and, Hornet was really shocked at this, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes as he started to run.

He turned off his light with one hand and put it in his pocket as he ran. Looking for an alcove or a vase big enough to hide behind, he wondered how Hornet could have gotten so thin. And what the hell was she doing in a place like this, of all nights? He turned a corner and stopped, listening intently.

"Um, Scipio? Mind putting me down, now, before I sock your goggles into your head?" Scipio smiled as he gently put her on her feet. At least she hadn't lost her coarse manner.

"Can you stand?" He asked. Hornet tested her legs and slowly let go of his shoulders.

"Yes. I'm fine, now."

"That's good, because you have to run by yourself." So, he turned and ran down the dark hallway, literally dragging her along by her wrist.

"So," Scipio said, as soon as Hornet needed a breather, "What are you doing here?"

"Breaking in. You?"

"Same thing. What are you after?"

"Anything valuable."

"Ah." Scipio was silent, lost in thought for a moment, then snapped to attention. "Follow me." He said, walking down a corridor.

"Why?" Hornet asked, not all too suspiously, as she followed.

Looking over his shoulder, he grinned again, and said, "I know where the valuables are."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I've been offline for so long and then all of the format stuff changed and if you didn't notice, I actually deleted my first chapter by mistake and I had to write it from what little memory I have of it. It sucks...

Chapter 6

Cat and Scipio ran down the eerie hallway, both noting that in a matter of minutes the police would be hunting them down. Scipio perused his memories of maps, and turn after turn, leading them both deeper into the Palace.

He stopped suddenly, and Cat tripped over his large feet that were now not moving out of her way. At least the floor was comfortable, and thickly carpeted, too.

Scipio was looking at an old woven wall hanging depicting fair maidens and fairies dancing through meadows and fields of flowers, nude. He looked for her and seemed surprised that she was on the floor, because he asked, "Watchoo doing on the floor?"

"I decided to take a break." Cat stood up and looked at the wall hanging again. Then, she turned to Scipio, her eyes questioning. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Taking in the view."

Cat was just about to chew him out, when he pulled the hanging aside and revealed a door in the wall.

"After you." He said, dipping into a bow and grinning like a carnie on drugs.

Okay, Catarina, she thought to herself, deep breathes. Walk past the nice man with a gorgous bum, and into the door which may or may not be "booby-trapped" as Annette would have said at that moment. Which reminded her, where did they all go? Have they been caught by the guards? Is that why they haven't found us yet?

"Concentrate," she whispered to herself, silencing all the little worries in her head. If Scipio knew about any traps, then he would've told her, because he always put others before himself.

She walked forward and yanked the old door open.

:Scipio regarded her with the same interest a cat would watch another cat hunting a mouse. Not any of my business, but...

She seemed worried when he first offered her to go. A darting of emotions across her face--fear, maybe?-- and the word she spoke, too low for him to hear. The fear cleared after the spoken word, and went forward with the door opening with a set mind.

Why did he watch her so closely? Maybe because he hadn't seen her in a long while... four or five years now, isn't it? Her movements were like a blast from the past. Every move she made, he remembered from a time long, long ago, when the only thing he had to worry about was keeping his friends fed.

The door opened without problem, as he knew it would, except with a squeaking noise that you would have to expect from an underused door. It opened into a normal-looking room, for a palace, at least, very expensively furnished. Scipio walked gracefully past her and turned in the middle of the room.

"You don't have to stand in the doorway, you know." He told her, a grin again forming on his lips. She suddenly realized that he was extremely noble-looking, even though he was in black clothes. It seemed as if he were made for the room. She could just imagine him in robes fit for a king, and he would wear them with style.

He had left the middle of the room, and was now tapping on the walls. She didn't know what to do, so she just wandered around the room, looking at the old portraits of nobles who looked like they had sticks up their asses.

"They were made to stand like that," Scipio suddenly said from close behind her, "for hours at a time."

"Oh," Cat said, feeling undereducated, "I always wondered why they looked so..."

"Constipated?" Scipio provided.

Cat laughed. When she turned, Scipio was no longer behind her, but had dodged in front of her. He tapped the portrait and grinned.

"Got it!" He whispered. He flipped around the portrait, on hinges, to reveal a safe in the wall.

"Not very original." Cat said behind him.

He shrugged, examining the lock. Electronic, coded. Damn, and here he was, armed to the teeth with picks of all shapes and sizes. He brought the headset mouthpiece to his lips.

"Come in HB." He said softly.

"We read you, what do you need?" The woman's voice came over the speaker into his ear.

"Any idea what number to the code is?"

"No. You're on your own."

"I have no fucking clue what it is!" Hornet shifted behind him.

"Break it! Over."

"Damn you, Jill." Scipio said after he moved the mouthpiece away.

"I heard that, Fortunato." She said. "You know we can't do anything for you. And I heard you picked up a weakness along the way. Get rid of her. Now."

"Maybe we can try these numbers on the table?" Hornet asked him.

Scipio walked swiftly to the table. There, indeed, were a few numbers carved many times into the table with a dark pen.

"8-5-21." He repeated to himself, and input them into the safe. It clicked open. Scipio grinned again as he brought the mouthpiece to his mouth. "Not happening. Weakness just got us what we want."

A couple of bags, which on closer inspection, were full of old gold jewelry. And deep in, there was a small safe in the safe. Another electronic combo lock. He tried those numbers on this one, too, but it didn't work. Damn. It must be in here.

Ah, well. He removed the small safe. _I'll just take it to Homebase--let THEM deal with it._ Hornet took one of the bags and looked into it. And got extremely pale. And started hyperventilating. He clicked his fingers near her face, and she didn't respond.

"Hey. Do you want that?" He asked. She stared at him. Well, at least she wasn't dead there.

"Alright. Help me with this, then." He handed her the small safe and took off his backpack. He carefully put the safe in, then threw the few bags in after it.

"Are you sure?" She finally managed to say.

"If I'm taking one, might as well take the rest. Besides," He said hefting the bag onto his back, "These people won't even feel it gone from their pockets. They'll just feel an insult. Which is a reason I got into this job."

"What is your job?" She asked as they stood there, watching each other.

"Professional thief." He smiled sweetly.

Author's notes: Ouch. My hand. Hamster.


	6. Chapter 6

Hornet laughed at him. The irony was far too much for this night. She was half-dead from all the shocks she's had this night. Breaking into a Palace, having a giant bug-man turn out to be Scipio, a him being a fucking professional thief, and holy hells. All that gold. More than she's ever seen in her life. The one question she had was, how in the world did the pipsqueak who PRETENDED to steal stuff actually get a job as a professional? He was shorter than she was, last time she saw him. Well, at the preteen age. He seemed to have grown another foot or two, even after getting old. Er.

"Not the best time to laugh, you know." He said, mildly pissed. He danced an odd little jig towards the door, and asked, "Are you coming, or should I leave you to the wolves?"

"Just walk out the front door, then?" Hornet asked, politely as she could, as they walked out of the room.

"I'm damn near sure..." He began, then stopped, listened, then motioned with his arm towards the hallway they haven't been down. Hornet knew enough, but was not a professional at, sign language. She was "damn near sure" this arm gesture meant Thatta-way. So, she followed Scipio Thatta-way.

He heard the guards before Hornet did. He wasn't completely sure if she knew the seriousness of being caught, but being caught now was like the end of his life. His career would be ruined. Oh, sure, they wouldn't leave him and his little accomplice in jail, but the company would go under more suspicion than usual. This would mean, immediately fire the man who did this to the suits.

See, he was like a mouse, doing the dirty work of cats. Because he was sneaky, and they had money, he got them stuff they wanted, and he got cheese. Not literal cheese, figurative cheese. Because he was the mouse, right? No, literally, he got bags o' money. It was all A-OK in his book.

They ran quietly through the halls, until they got to a door. The entrance that lead to the garden, actually, and not the front door. Scipio was very pleased to have remembered this from the maps he poured over the night before. It was his special talent that he would congratulate himself for later with a lot of alcohol and maybe an illegal substance of some sort. He couldn't fell pleased yet, though. They still had to get out of here. He thought this all in a flash, then he began thinking of other things. Maps, diagrams, security features ran through his head. The garden door was secured. It had an alarm system outside it. Step outside and might as well tell everyone in the world you were there. They probably had the grounds covered, too. Even if they did get out, they had a high likelyhood of being captured. Something snapped, and he quickly knelt down, took off his backpack, moved around the bags and the safe, and finally took out an odd baloon-looking thing and what looked like gloves and rubber feet.

"What the...?" Cat asked. Scipio silenced her with a jerking moment to his neck. Cat shut the fuck up. She knew that one, easy. scipio might as well have shouted, 'Shut the fuck up, or I'll slit your throat.'

Scipio had only been expecting to use this stuff on himself. Which is why they had a small problem. Two gloves and two shoe coverings. It wasn't going to support all of their weight, only half of it. Maybe more than half of Hornet's weight, because she got really skinny. _Seriously, I'm going to have to ask her what the hell she's been doing to herself_, he thought. Good thing he brought the hydrogen balloon. They'd need it. He handed Hornet a glove and a shoe covering, then put on his, miming, 'This is what you do.'

Hornet made a face. 'Only one each?'

Scipio held up both hands and wriggled his fingers, showing her one hand in suction and one hand uncovered. 'It was meant only for me.'

Hornet made a 'God, you are a crack-head' face, but kept quiet. Or at least that's what he thought she meant to say. Oh, well.

He began the inflation of the balloon, and grabbed Hornet around the waist. He knew if it had been any other time, he would have stopped to enjoy the feel of another's body pressed to his, but it wasn't. Scipio lead her to the wall, and offered her the balloon. He was beginning to float, because the hydrogen was incredibly stuffed. Technically, the rest of the scientific community would never believe the amount of moles of hydrogen was shoved into that little balloon. Technically, it was impossible.

Technically, he was eighteen.

The reality of it was that the big-wigs of politics had much more science than anyone could ever believe, and he was close to thirty. But it didn't matter now.

The fact that the hydrogen was shoved into that tiny space was the reason that it could lift a human; it was so light that if let go, it would float outside the earth's reaches. Yes, _A_ human. Not two. Maybe two Hornets, God, he was stuck on that. But, half of two human's weights... Maybe it could work?

Hornet grabbed at the balloon, wondering where Scipio was going at. What the hell would a balloon help--

As soon as she grabbed it, Scipio stopped floating. But she had a hard time keeping a hold of the balloon, even though there were handles. It was pulling her upward with a lot of force. She didn't know Physics at all, but, wasn't this kind of impossible?

Scipio jumped, and slapped his gloved hand and foot against the wall. And stayed there. Hornet was pulled up to the height of scipio's jump, which was fucking high. Like three feet. Damn. She vaguely wished she could do that, then she accidently touched the wall. Her glove stuck there. She attempted to pull it off, but then her foot got stuck. Damn. This was akward. Scipio twitched his head upward. He made his hand into a fist, and it unstuck itself from the wall. It had a oil on it that stopped it from getting stuck on itself. Probably the only thing that it wouldn't stick to. Hornet did the same and it unstuck her hand from the wall. They exchanged glances, and preceded to climb the wall.

It took some getting used to, but it was easy to deal with after a while. They stopped when they hit the ceiling. Just in time, too.

Two guards walked by, then stopped on the floor below them. Cat's every heartbeat sounded like a bass drum in her mouth. Scipio was calm and unaffected, like, 'Oh, yes, I flirt with danger all the time.' Being a big show-offy doofus. Jerkface. She attempted to get a hold of her heart, calming it.

"What the fuck." One said, disappointed.

"I know there was somebody around here..."

"Where are they, then?" That one had a patronizing tone.

"I don't know." They stood for a minute, not saying anything. Scipio and Cat were pressed to the wall, and were quiet as mice. Quieter, even. They weren't munching on cardboard or cereal.

"Maybe they're in the garden."

"It would've set off the alarm."

"It's the last place we haven't checked."

The other guard looked angry, but nodded. Good point.

One of them took out a remote controller and typed in a few commands.

A beep was heard, and the guards went through the door.

Scipio immediately moved, unsticking himself from the wall, and using his hand and the balloon to move across the ceiling to the door. Hornet followed, scared to death. Why didn't they look up? She had expected them to look up at any second. Why didn't they? They got to the door, ducked underneath the frame, and started climbing to the roof.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Scipio deflated the balloon, still very, very thankful that his boss let him have some things. He and Hornet sat high above Venice, on top of the Palace, waiting for the guards to lower their, well, guard. They could see the sky beginning to pink in the lagoon far away, the horizon pocked by sailing boats and islands.

"It's gorgeous..." Hornet breathed from where she sat next to him. He glanced over at her, wondering if this really was the Hornet he once knew. The sky was reflected in her eyes, so that it seemed that the sun was rising in her eyes. Scipio didn't care all that much. He'd seen some of the most unbelievable things in the world; a sunrise was not going to keep his attention long. Hornet seemed absorbed in the sight, though, as if she couldn't see the sun rise from Ida Spavento's windows normally. She got up early to go to school, didn't she?

"It's like all the canals in Venice are just parts of a great spider web." Scipio turned back to the horizon, looking for what she was talking about. It was true, all of the canals they could see shone in the light of the sun, as the buildings were still dark. It was true, spiderwebs after a freshly fallen rain.

"Hey, Hornet..."

She turned to him. "I'm not Hornet anymore."

Scipio blinked.

"Well, then, who the hell are you?"

"I'm Cat, Signor Fortunato." She smiled that damned smile that made his heart turn. It was playful and mischievious and so... beautiful. Just like all those years ago...

She had eyes only for Prosper back then. She never did notice much else besides Prosper. _I wonder what happened to Prosper and Bo..._

"Cat?"

"Hm?"

"What are Prosper and Bo doing nowadays?"

Cat glared at him. "I don't know what happened to them, and I couldn't care less." She then pointedly stared at the sky.

Scipio drew back a little from both the shock and the force of her vehemence. He recovered and asked, also very pointedly, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly how it sounds." It wasn't so angry this time, more like, unaffected. "I don't care what happened to them. They're probably having loads of fun in England."

"England? Why are they there?"

"Because that's where Ida has moved to." Cat looked down, trying not to give anything else away. She had told him too much already. _But_, she sighed inwardly, _he should be informed on the rest of the gang._ I mean, _he did try to fend for us in his own way._

"Where are you living, if not at Ida's?" Scipio sensed he was not going to like this answer. And he was right, as always.

"The Star-Palace."

Scipio took a deep breathe and controlled himself, as Cat was hitting herself upside the head, mentally, of course. Again! Again! Tell him something else you don't want anyone else to know. Go ahead. _Shut up brain! _

"You can't keep living in the Stella." He told Cat. She turned on him, prepared to destroy him with her female powers, as he hurriedly pressed on. "You can't. The Stella is unsafe, if nothing else. It's about to fall in the canal!"

"I don't care." She raged against him, "I'm not going to leave my friends to live there if I can get out." She gasped. _Good God, you really did tell him something else, didn't you?_ Cat really wished she didn't have such an opinionated brain. It was smug right now. She hated smug people; smug brains were no different.

Scipio deflated, just like the balloon before him. "There are more runaways in the Stella now?"

Cat nodded.

Scipio sighed. "At least come with me for today."

Cat gave him a suspicious look.

"I swear, after today, you can go back to your friends at the Stella, and I won't say anything." He lowered his voice. "Please, come with me?"

Cat mulled it over in her head. She could deny him, and he might tell someone that they were there... No, she shook her head slightly, a few strands of hair too short to be kept in her braid fell into her face. Something Scipio noted very carefully. Scipio isn't like that, he wouldn't tell on us, but, he could make a scene if need be. But, I really want to see them, to make sure they were okay. Then she remembered the guards. They acted as if they hadn't found anyone. So, they were fine. What else? Ummm... I want my books? My sleeping bag? Overcooked pasta?

Scipio saw the exact moment that she made up her mind. Her eyes cleared and she looked up at the sunrise again with a determined look in her eyes. She looked at him, in challenge? Adoration?

"Sure, I'll come." She agreed.


End file.
